State will hold off cutting foster care to 2 religious agencies

Manya A. BrachearTribune reporter

The state will not immediately cut off foster care funding to Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois or the Evangelical Child and Family Agency, despite concerns that both agencies discriminate against couples in civil unions and aren't protected by a court order that protects three other Catholic Charities agencies.

In the meantime, none of the Catholic Charities still offering foster care services in Illinois may take in new children, state officials said.

On Tuesday, a Sangamon County Circuit Court judge ruled that the Illinois attorney general and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) could not immediately sever foster care contracts with Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Springfield, Peoria and Joliet, all of which had sued to prevent the state from enforcing new anti-discrimination policies that accommodate civil unions.

Last week, DCFS told four Catholic Charities agencies, including Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in Belleville, which was not part of the suit, that new contracts to provide foster care would not be accepted. The department was still determining whether the Evangelical Child and Family Agency in Wheaton would abide by the state law when the judge issued the injunction.

On Wednesday, the department said it would not deny funding to any of the agencies until the case is resolved in court. The next court date is Aug. 15.

“While we are evaluating the steps ahead, we will fully respect both the spirit and letter of what the judge said,” said Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for DCFS.

Since March, state officials have been investigating whether religious agencies that receive public funds to license foster care parents are breaking anti-discrimination laws if they turn away openly gay parents.

The issue came to light last fall when Lutheran Child and Family Services, affiliated with the conservative Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, turned away a gay couple seeking a foster care license.

Gene Svebakken, executive director of LCFS, said the agency believes it has found a way to balance state law and church guidelines, which don’t restrict licensing same-sex couples. LCFS now will license any qualified prospective parent and will place children with same-sex couples in collaboration with other entities, he said.

Svebakken also has offered to take Catholic Charities cases in Springfield and Belleville if those Catholic agencies cease to offer foster care services.

“It’s been a fine line for me to walk here,” he said. “As Lutherans, part of our genetic code is to be involved in the world around us. If we’re out there, it’s going to be messy.”